DeWitt Clinton to James Madison, 7 November 1806
From DeWitt Clinton
NewYork 7 November 1806
Sir
Having understood that Capt. Whitby had stated in a letter to the British Consul of this City that he had in his possession an affidavit of a Pilot which proves that he had not violated the jurisdiction of the United States in the killing of Pierce, I thought it expedient to procure the enclosed affidavits,1 which will establish beyond doubt the illegality of his conduct and that no authorized Pilot has made the deposition abovementioned.
FC (NNC).
1. On 26 April 1806 Jesse Pierce, master of the sloop Richard, and Hezekiah Pratt, master of the brig Sally, swore affidavits before Clinton about the circumstances of John Pierce’s death by a shot from the Royal Navy’s Leander (Philadelphia Aurora General Advertiser, 30 Apr. 1806). For more on the Leander affair, see , 11:xxiii–xxiv, 533–34, 534 n. 1.